diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/indexlifecycle/action/TransportGetLifecycleAction.java b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/indexlifecycle/action/TransportGetLifecycleAction.java
index 638bc824000..c7660dc68d6 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/indexlifecycle/action/TransportGetLifecycleAction.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/indexlifecycle/action/TransportGetLifecycleAction.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.indexlifecycle.action.GetLifecycleAction.Res
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 
 public class TransportGetLifecycleAction extends TransportMasterNodeAction<Request, Response> {
@@ -53,7 +54,12 @@ public class TransportGetLifecycleAction extends TransportMasterNodeAction<Reque
     protected void masterOperation(Request request, ClusterState state, ActionListener<Response> listener) {
         IndexLifecycleMetadata metadata = clusterService.state().metaData().custom(IndexLifecycleMetadata.TYPE);
         if (metadata == null) {
-            listener.onFailure(new ResourceNotFoundException("Lifecycle policy not found: {}", Arrays.toString(request.getPolicyNames())));
+            if (request.getPolicyNames().length == 0) {
+                listener.onResponse(new Response(Collections.emptyList()));
+            } else {
+                listener.onFailure(new ResourceNotFoundException("Lifecycle policy not found: {}",
+                    Arrays.toString(request.getPolicyNames())));
+            }
         } else {
             List<LifecyclePolicyResponseItem> requestedPolicies;
             // if no policies explicitly provided, behave as if `*` was specified
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/indexlifecycle/IndexLifecycleInitialisationTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/indexlifecycle/IndexLifecycleInitialisationTests.java
index fc8598de65f..a041232d8a7 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/indexlifecycle/IndexLifecycleInitialisationTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/indexlifecycle/IndexLifecycleInitialisationTests.java
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.client.Requests.clusterHealthRequest;
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ import static org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.ShardRoutingState.STARTED;
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticsearchAssertions.assertAcked;
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.indexlifecycle.LifecyclePolicyTestsUtils.newLockableLifecyclePolicy;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.not;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.greaterThanOrEqualTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.lessThanOrEqualTo;
@@ -145,6 +147,15 @@ public class IndexLifecycleInitialisationTests extends ESIntegTestCase {
         logger.info("Starting server1");
         final String server_1 = internalCluster().startNode();
         final String node1 = getLocalNodeId(server_1);
+
+        // test get-lifecycle behavior when IndexLifecycleMetaData is null
+        GetLifecycleAction.Response getUninitializedLifecycleResponse = client().execute(GetLifecycleAction.INSTANCE,
+            new GetLifecycleAction.Request()).get();
+        assertThat(getUninitializedLifecycleResponse.getPolicies().size(), equalTo(0));
+        ExecutionException exception = expectThrows(ExecutionException.class,() -> client()
+            .execute(GetLifecycleAction.INSTANCE, new GetLifecycleAction.Request("non-existent-policy")).get());
+        assertThat(exception.getMessage(), containsString("Lifecycle policy not found: [non-existent-policy]"));
+
         logger.info("Creating lifecycle [test_lifecycle]");
         PutLifecycleAction.Request putLifecycleRequest = new PutLifecycleAction.Request(lifecyclePolicy);
         long lowerBoundModifiedDate = Instant.now().toEpochMilli();